EU Employers welcome Commission's decision to introduce a competitiveness check in EU policy and law-making - Joint press release by the EESC Employers' Group, BusinessEurope, SMEunited and SGI Europe

25 October 2022 - The EESC Employers' Group, BusinessEurope, SMEunited and SGI Europe welcomed the decision of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to introduce a competitiveness check in all future EU policies and legislative proposals. The introduction of a competitiveness check was announced by the Commission President on Wednesday 19 October in the European Parliament and the Tripartite Social Summit.

The Employers' organisations have been calling for such an instrument for the past two years, notably in the context of the Conference on the Future of Europe. In fact, the idea was included in the CoFoE final report as one of the measures on proposal 12 on Enhancing EU’s competitiveness and further deepening the Single Market, which states "New EU policy initiatives should undergo a “competitiveness check” to analyse their impact on companies and their business environment."

At a time of considerable preoccupation regarding the future growth prospects of the European Economy, European enterprises are facing very difficult times, with high inflation rates coupled by high energy costs. This is putting into jeopardy the very survival of thousands of enterprises across the EU.

Stefano Mallia, President of the EESC Employers’ Group said "it is clear that every effort must be made to ensure that we protect and enhance the competitiveness of our economy and such a check will indeed assist in this effort". 

Moreover, Markus Beyrer, Director General at BusinessEurope said "we are convinced that to maintain and enhance the competitiveness of EU big and small enterprises we must always assess the impact of all EU initiatives on companies and their business environment".

Valeria Ronzitti, SGI Europe General Secretary, was keen to emphasise that ""if well-designed, such an instrument will in no way undermine the protection of human, social and workers’ rights nor environmental and consumer protection standards, rather it would boost growth prospects and prosperity, eliminating obstacles and administrative burden".

Veronique Willems, SMEunited Secretary General, said "we must do everything possible to allow our SMEs to increase their competitiveness in the Single Market and globally, therefore this should be a key consideration whenever we decide to introduce new legislation".

The Employers' organisations concluded by saying that they look forward to engaging with the European Commission in the development and implementation of the proposed Competitiveness check.